Patiala, April 30: The Patiala police have arrested the two assistant sub-inspectors (ASIs) from Kerala who were missing for the past one month with Rs 6.66 crore “robbed during a raid”.
A team is likely to bring them back by tomorrow evening. Punjab DGP Dinkar Gupta has confirmed the development.Their arrest is likely to help crack one of the biggest robberies of the state.
ASIs Rajpreet Singh and Joginder Singh will be questioned by the SIT, which was looking for them from the past fortnight. A Look Out Notice had also been issued against them.
The ASIs disappeared with the money after a raid on the premises of Father Anthony Madassery in Jalandhar on March 29.
An FIR in Mohali named ASIs Joginder Singh and Rajpreet Singh along with Surinder Singh of Naushera Khurd village in Pathankot on whose information the Khanna police raided Father Anthony’s premises.
“A team headed by Inspector Gurdeep Singh returned with Rs 9.66 crore. The two accused cops and Surinder used the Moga route and all that we know is that the cash went missing thereafter,” Khanna SSP Dhruv Dahiya had said.
The two accused, who were posted with Patiala police till March 25, suddenly did not report to the duty. Even as the police started marking them absent, an order from the DGP office issued to Khanna police posted the two in Khanna following a “request by Khanna police”.
The third accused, informer Surinder Singh, is in the police custody along with ASI Dilbagh Singh for “colluding” with the other accused.
Police are yet to recover the cash from the accused ASIs and as per preliminary information, they were carrying limited cash for sundry expenses at the time of arrest.
The two accused were planning to move court through their counsel for a CBI probe in the case.
PK Sinha, the SIT head probing the robbery case, has rushed to Kochi to take custody of the two accused cops who were arrested following specific inputs by the Punjab police.
AIG Rakesh Kaushal will also leave for Kochi to arrest the accused formally as he is the investigating officer in the case.
